Chapter 9
"There had been a quick, um, startled wonder in her eyes. She had freed herself from his arms and had made him coffee," Santana read, as her eyes flickered from left to right on the page, holding the book with a hand flat on the table, the other hand tracing the words that she was reading out.
Quinn, who was listening intently to the brunette, sat next to her. They had been doing these sort of night sessions for about a month now, and if Santana could say so herself, she was getting quite good at reading. She remembered how a month or so ago, she didn't recognise most letters. Now, she could recognise those letters almost instantly, as well as read ahead to the following letters and saying correctly what word that was.
It wasn't an easy process, however. There were lots of different phonics patterns that she had to learn, such as when there were two vowels combined what sound they would make together, as well as some of the irregulars as well. It was a bit difficult at first as Santana had to recognise each of the letters in turn, then try to visualise and hear the word in her head, then say it out loud. Santana was almost about to give up a few days in, saying that it was too hard, but Quinn was persistent that she continued, saying that she had made so much progress already and it would be such a shame if she gave up.
Now, Santana has gained confidence and was reading out loud considerably faster than before, because over time she had learnt that getting things wrong was nothing to be ashamed of. Every mistake made was just an opportunity to learn, Quinn said, and it was true: as long as Santana paid attention to her mistakes she tended to not make them again, and that sped up her progress even more.
Quinn had also taught Santana how to write, a bit. She had said that it was better to get Santana really fluent in reading first, though. However, the few lessons that Santana had of writing was even harder than the lessons that she had in reading. It was because on top of being able to recognise the letters, she now had to memorise them and recall them. On top of that, she had to learn how to spell most words, and this is where she agreed with Quinn: all that reading was definitely helping her learn the letters better and give her a better idea of how to spell.
Santana paused as she got to the end of the paragraph, taking a little bit of a break. Reading was still hard for her even though she found it considerably easier than before, meaning that it took a lot of brainpower and focus. Besides, Santana had read over two pages consecutively, which was some kind of record, so she was pretty proud of herself.
"Well done!" Quinn enthused, as Santana closed her eyes to rest it after so much strain due to focus. "I can totally see you getting as good as me in a few weeks."
"I don't think so," Santana said, slightly flattered at the consistent confidence that Quinn always had in the brunette. "You've been reading all your life, pretty much. I've just started a couple of weeks ago."
"And yet you are so good already!" Quinn gushed, leaning forward to embrace the brunette in a hug. "You are such a fast learner, I love it. You're so smart."
Santana felt her cheeks flush at the undying flourish of compliments coming out of the blonde's mouth. "Thanks, but you speak too highly of me."
"Never," Quinn shook her head, still smiling. "Well, should we call it here for now? You've done amazingly today, I mean it. Let's go get some breakfast, shall we?"
"Yeah, that sounds good," Santana said, as Quinn helped her to her feet. Together, they walked out the door and down the stairs.
"Morning, Brittany," Quinn greeted as they saw the brunette organising pots and pans in the cupboards. "Did you sleep well?"
"Not bad," Brittany shrugged. "More or less the same old, same old."
"You really should move into my room," Santana suggested. "Quinn's dad won't realise, and if he does, we'll protect you."
"It's fine, I'll probably get back pain from the softness of the mattress," Brittany joked. "Thanks for your offer, but I don't really want to take the risk. Plus, I'm pretty used to sleeping on the floor anyway."
"If you say so," Santana said. "So, what's for breakfast today?"
"Hmm, I haven't started cooking yet," Brittany said slyly. "Damn! Guess that's cereal for you?"
"Rebel," Santana quipped, laughing. She opened the fridge and got out some milk, as well as fetching a box of cereal from the shelf to her right. "Feeling lazy on a Sunday morning?"
"It's Sunday," Brittany shrugged, as if that was an explanation. "I deserve a break."
"Damn right you do." This time it was Quinn who spoke. "You want our help with your chores today?"
"It's fine, I've pretty much done them all yesterday," Brittany said. "I just need to do the laundry, and that's a job I'm fine with doing alone. Thanks though."
"You want me to make you a portion?" Santana said, holding up the cereal box.
"No, I've had breakfast," Brittany smirked. "I whipped up a sausage and baked beans meal for myself already. Turns out that no one finds out anyway, huh?"
"Sneaky," Santana slapped Brittany's shoulder playfully. "Well, I'll head to the other room, see you around?"
"Bye," Brittany waved, turning her back to the two girls who now made their way to the dining room.
"Good for her," Quinn said, as they sat down at the dining table.
"What do you mean?" Santana asked, putting a mouthful of cereal and milk into her mouth.
"Brittany looks a lot happier than before, and that's because of you, Santana. You see what you are doing to everyone here?" Quinn said.
"I'm not doing anything," Santana defended. "Maybe Brittany just found the meaning of life or something so that physical abuse doesn't hurt her anymore."
"That's rubbish," Quinn chuckled, swatting the air. "You know it's because of you, you help her with all that workload that's piled upon her. You lifted a huge weight off her shoulders."
"Maybe," Santana said contemplatively. "I'm just so awesome, aren't I?" she said in mock narcissism.
"Don't get so cocky now," Quinn warned light-heartedly. "But yeah, you are pretty awesome," she said.
Santana smiled warmly and continued eating her cereal.
"You know how some people really like stargazing because they say that it's really beautiful?" Santana said, turning her head to face Quinn.
"Uh-huh," Quinn said, staring up at the blue sky.
"Well, if anything, I think that staring at the clouds is just as good," Santana said, shifting her position so that she was now lying comfortably on the slightly damp grass, pleasant petrichor creating a nice fog around them.
"Really?" Quinn said, quietly, still staring straight up.
"Yep," Santana said. "It allows so much scope for imagination. Like you see that cloud over there?" Santana pointed to a cloud that was on their left. "It looks like a horse."
"What?" Quinn said, amused. "In what way?"
Santana shifted so that she was now lying cheek-to-cheek with the blonde. "You see over there," she whispered, pointing to the cloud so that Quinn to follow the brunette's line of sight. "That's the head. And there," she shifted her finger slightly. "Those are the legs. And that's the body, and that's the tail," she finished, lowering her finger.
Quinn stared at the cloud for a few moments before she turned her head to meet the brunette's. "Yeah," she said, voice slightly low and raspy. "I guess you're right. I could never see something like that."
"I bet you can," Santana smiled, encouragingly. "Just look at the clouds and just say that the first thing that pops into your head that vaguely resembles the cloud that you're looking at."
"I'm pretty sure you still need an amazing imagination," Quinn said.
"You don't," Santana shook her head. "Come on, just try."
"Okay," Quinn chuckled a bit, raking her eyes across the expanse of the blue sky. "Um, I guess that one looks like um… a bird."
"Which one?" Santana said, pressing her cheek to the blonde's again. She felt Quinn's cheeks heat up a little, or it may have been her own, she didn't know.
Quinn pointed to one on the far right, and Santana followed her line of vision. "You see, those two white bits are its wings. The head is over… there."
"Oh yeah, that's true," Santana said. "I didn't see that. See? You're just as good as I am."
"I really like this, San," Quinn sighed contently, relaxing on the soft sheet of green beneath them. "I could get used to this."
"I know, Q," Santana said gently. "I think we all can."
The day went like a blur for Santana. She remembered in the past how she would feel that every day seemed to last an eternity, how it was painful to wake up every day, how she just wanted to submerge herself into her dreams as it was her only escape from reality.
Except, now in the Fabray Estate, her dreams seemed to come true. She had never known that someone as kind and pure as Quinn could exist, and the luck that she just happened to be her master was just unbelievable. A part of Santana told her that it was just God rewarding her for her rather tragic childhood, that she deserved the happiness that she felt nearly constantly now. But aren't all rewards temporary? Santana hoped that she could get to keep Quinn as her master for an eternity, but she knew that it was unrealistic to hope that. Of course, it was possible, like how her mum's master had kept her all these years, but it was incredibly unlikely.
But then, Quinn was not like all the other masters. Quinn would keep her, right? But then if Quinn's dad decided one day that he no longer wanted Santana in the house, then would she be sold on? She didn't know if Quinn's dad had the right, as she technically was Quinn's property, but then Mr Fabray did buy her first. So was she in Mr Fabray's name? She didn't know, and she didn't want to think about it anymore. The thing that mattered the most was the present, so she should probably focus on that first.
She kind of lost track of time over the course of today, but all she knew is that as Brittany didn't need her help with the chores, it had been more or less a completely free day. Sometimes Santana would spend her free time with herself, maybe borrowing of Quinn's books to practice her reading, or she would spend her time with Quinn. The blonde seemed to enjoy Santana's company as much as Santana enjoyed hers, so that was really pleasing to know. Which is what she's doing now, actually. She was in Quinn's room, flipping through some pages of Quinn's handwriting at the desk. Now that she was able to read, she could understand what Quinn was writing. It was slightly harder to read than a book, for example, as the words were not printed, but she was still able to discern what it was saying. Quite a lot of them were school notes, which Santana found really interesting, because she had no idea what anything was until she read it. Also, as she rummaged deeper into the pile, she could find some non-school related stuff. As Santana read through them too, her eyes widened as they were now bordering on personal stuff that Quinn had.
Quinn caught sight of what Santana was reading and instantly made her way over.
"Um," Quinn said, gently prying the paper out of Santana's hands. "Maybe that's enough reading for you today. You have done so much today, we can always continue tomorrow. Let's do something else, okay?"
"Yeah, sure," Santana said, closing the drawer after Quinn had put the sheet in. "What should we do?"
Quinn put her hand on her chin for a while, thinking, looking around the room, until she seemed to have caught sight of something which gave her an idea. "Let's put some music on," she said, walking over to a bookshelf on the far side of the room. She got a box out from the bottom shelf and got out some kind of device, which Santana guessed was a speaker. Quinn rummaged through the wires a bit until she found the one that she needed, plugging the device into a socket. Then she fetched a device from another shelf on the bookshelf and connected it to the speaker.
Within no time, some music started to play. Santana had heard some form of music before, but very rarely. Maybe it was in her old master's houses where they would sometimes invite some people over and they would play some music to keep them entertained, or it would come from her mum, who would sing her to sleep when she was little. This is why as she hadn't really listened to any music before, it evoked some kind of warm feeling to rise in her heart, which seemed to swell.
The light went off and Quinn's next words were so quiet that Santana nearly didn't catch it: "Dance with me."
Quinn was standing in the middle of the room, arms outstretched, inviting. Santana stared at her for a while, gaping, before her mouth started to regain its function and she was able to talk again. "I-I don't know how," she stuttered.
"Doesn't matter," Quinn said softly, slowly swaying her body from side to side. "Come."
There was some kind of atmosphere in the room that was a little difficult to describe. It was calm and serene, and there was also this kind of tension that was just there, almost tangible but not quite. There was this vague feeling that there was this string that connected the two girls together, and now Quinn was just winding the string together, creating this invisible force that pulled Santana towards her. The lighting was low; Santana could see the moon outside beaming down on them, huge and bright. Santana looked back to Quinn, and the side of her face that was facing the window was visible clearly, the other side in the shadow.
With no words being said, Santana settled herself in Quinn's arms and the blonde swayed the two of them together to the beat of the music.
"See?" Quinn husked, voice barely more than a whisper. "Easy as that," she mumbled as they continued to sway from side to side.
The music was a faint buzz in Santana's ears: she wasn't really paying much attention to it. All she could see and smell and sense was how close Quinn was to her. They were about the same height, meaning that if Santana looked straight ahead she could see Quinn's eyes, almost viridescent under the dim moonlight.
"Feeling more confident?" Quinn said softly as time went on, just them swaying side to side. Santana didn't really know what Quinn meant, so she didn't say anything, just continued looking at Quinn expectantly.
"When I move my foot forward, you move your foot back, okay?" Quinn breathed. "And when you move your foot forward, I will move my foot back. Got it?"
"Yeah," Santana said, and Quinn started by moving one step forward. Seeing that Quinn moved her foot forward, Santana took a step back.
"Good," Quinn said, unable to suppress her smile. "Now we count steps." With that, Quinn guided Santana so that the brunette took a step forward, and Quinn took a step back.
"Wow," Santana whispered as the two of them built started to build up a rhythm, just as she vaguely registered the music starting to intensify.
"See? You're a natural," Quinn complimented as they started to move back and forth across the empty space that acted as a dance floor.
This went on for a short while before Santana suddenly felt a surge of confidence and courage, and as both their hands were still clasped in each other's as they moved to the beat of the music, she let go of one of Quinn's hands and twirled her around in a full circle. Quinn was caught off guard by this, but she spun around with grace nonetheless, and their hands joined back together when she was facing Santana again.
"Woah," Quinn giggled. "That was smooth, San."
"Who knew, huh?" Santana said, smiling widely, which Quinn reciprocated.
"My turn," Quinn then said, barely giving Santana enough time to react before the brunette was launched into her own spin. Santana nearly stumbled with the exertion, but then Quinn's strong hands were around her waist, keeping her upright. Her back was now facing the blonde, and she could feel Quinn's breath on her shoulder.
"I guess this works too," Quinn mumbled into Santana's ear, and then started to sway the two of them rather vigorously from side to side. Santana felt some heat start to rise on her face as well as her stomach, but she put those thoughts aside and happily obliged, letting Quinn lead her.
It wasn't until the music changed to a must faster-paced one that Quinn decided to have a bit of fun, lifting Santana up into the air. Santana let a squeal come out of her mouth as she felt her feet leave the floor; she was having so much fun, she wasn't going to hold back anymore.
Their feet continued to move in sync, and as the song was drawing to a close Santana took a misstep so that both her and Quinn stepped forward at the same time, and Santana stepped right on Quinn's foot, which elicited a yelp from the blonde.
"Sorry," Santana whispered. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Quinn smiled softly. "You were meant to step back there."
"I know that now," Santana smiled back. "Does it hurt?"
"Not anymore," Quinn's smile was starting to fade and she bit her lip. The two of them have more or less stopped dancing by now, and were just swaying from side to side. Santana felt the atmosphere change, from playful and teasing to something different, but to what she wasn't sure.
She saw Quinn's eyes dart all around her face, before setting itself on somewhere below her eyes. Quinn's eyes stayed there for a while, before flickering up again to meet Santana's deep mocha ones. Quinn's eyes were so beautiful. Under the moonlight, you could see specks of green in one eye, the other in the shadow being a deep, almost brown shade.
"San," Quinn said, voice barely over a whisper. Santana saw Quinn gulp before the blonde spoke up again. "I have a secret to tell you."
"A secret?" Santana mumbled, in a bit of a daze.
"Yes," Quinn whispered. "Come closer, please, so that I can tell you."
Santana did as Quinn instructed, inching a bit closer so that their faces were closer together. But Quinn didn't seem to be satisfied yet.
Santana saw Quinn's lips move before she heard her next words. "A little closer,San."
Santana did so, tilting her face slightly to one side so that Quinn could whisper into her ear, but before she knew it, one of Quinn's warm hands was on her face and the blonde closed the distance between them.
Santana's senses were in overload. She didn't register the faint music that was softly buzzing in the background. All she could feel was Quinn's lips pressed onto hers, light as a feather, moving slowly.
It was so slow, and so enjoyable, that Santana closed her eyes to relish the sensation. She felt a bit of heat pool between her legs as she started to move her own lips too. Truth was, she had never done this before, and she was frightened out of her mind, but just the feel of Quinn all around her, in such an intimate way, was enough to render her fears null.
Quinn pulled back almost too fast, and Santana opened her eyes again, slowly, still in a bit of a trance. Quinn gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth, almost as if she couldn't believe what she had done, blushing profusely and it was so cute that Santana suddenly felt a strong desire to close the distance between them again.
"I'm so sorry," Quinn mumbled, stammering. "I-I, um, I just suddenly felt – um, ah –"
Santana just stared at Quinn who was still struggling to find words to say, and as she didn't want the blonde to die of embarrassment, so she just leaned forward and closed the distance between them again.
Quinn let out a squeak in surprise, but Santana just put one of her hands behind her head, stroking tendrils of golden hair gently, nipping at her lips softly as Santana closed her eyes again.
It took a bit of time, but eventually, Quinn got over her shock and started to kiss back, and a moan erupted from one of them – from who, Santana had no idea, but she didn't care.
It was pure oblivion, Santana had never felt anything like this before.
When Quinn wrapped her arms around Santana's back and waist, pulling her closer so that their bodies were now flush, the heat between Santana's legs intensified. Santana was pretty sure that if she died here and now, she would die the happiest girl on the planet. It was like her life was complete.
After a few moments that seemed to last no time and forever at the same time, Quinn pulled away slightly, resting their foreheads against each other.
"San," Quinn's voice was hoarse and filled with awe and wonder.
"Quinn," Santana parroted, her voice most likely just like Quinn's.
"Did you feel – do you feel that… um…" Quinn faltered.
"That was amazing," Santana said contently. "I had no idea, Q."
"I, um, had wanted to do that for a while now," Quinn admitted, cheeks flushing red. "I just never had the courage to, I guess."
"And thank god you did," Santana smiled, staring into Quinn's hazel orbs intensely.
"The thing is, that, um…" Quinn's eyes darted away as she composed herself. "I-I really like you, Santana. As in, um, more than a friend. I get that you may not be… um… gay, but you are so beautiful, so kind, so amazing, it's impossible for me to not like you."
Quinn being a nervous wreck just made Santana's heart swell a hundred times over. "I really like you too, Quinn," Santana admitted, feeling herself blush. "I don't know if I'm… gay or not, but I guess that I've been put off men ever since… you know," Santana half-joked.
Quinn laughed, nervousness dissipating slightly. "I've never kissed anyone before," she confessed. "I guess I never found the right one before. I keep on feeling like you're the one, you know?"
"And you are the best kisser, like ever, by a long way," Santana smiled. "You're a natural," she said, quoting Quinn's words from earlier.
Quinn caught on. "I really like kissing you, Santana. You're amazing."
"You're not so bad yourself," Santana quipped. Then she remembered something. "Hey, would your dad allow this? Us in a relationship?"
Quinn's smile fell slightly. "Please don't ruin the vibe by mentioning my dad, please?"
"Okay," Santana smiled apologetically. "I won't," she said, leaning forward for another kiss because she found Quinn so irresistible.
"You know the thing you asked me earlier, about my dad?" Quinn said as the two of them watched the stars out the window, sitting side by side on the blonde's bed.
"Yes?" Santana said, recalling what she had asked a while ago.
"I think that um… it's best that if he doesn't know," Quinn sighed, looking down, probably fearing for Santana's reaction.
"I agree," Santana said, and Quinn looked up in surprise. "He probably won't approve of us, seeing as I'm a slave and you're not."
"I don't see you as a slave, San, you know," Quinn said. "I never have, never will."
"I know," Santana smiled. "Although I am curious as to one thing," she said.
"What is it?" Quinn asked.
"Why did your dad buy me, if he doesn't approve of this? You know, as I am technically a sex slave," Santana said.
"I don't think that you're a sex slave," Quinn said genuinely. "It's just that non-consensual sex to slaves are legal, hence that… derogatory term to describe people of your class." Quinn sighed heavily. "My dad doesn't buy slaves for me to have sex with," she mumbled, face grimacing as if she was tasting something sour. "Heck, I didn't even know it was legal until you told me. He buys slaves to keep me company, because I cut off contact with all of my friends ever since my mum got murdered and he thinks that I get lonely, when in fact, I don't. It's his way of fixing the unfixable without putting any effort himself, I guess. I didn't know how lonely I was until I met you, Santana."
Santana smiled shyly. "So, um, what did he expect you to do with the slaves that he buys?"
"I don't know," Quinn shrugged. "Probably do chores for me? Act as someone for me to take my anger upon? I genuinely have no idea. Not someone to like as more as a friend, though, I'm pretty sure. These sorts of romances are forbidden, and he will most definitely not approve. Which is why I think that we shouldn't let him know, under any circumstance."
"I cannot agree more," Santana nodded. "It's okay, though. I'm happy with us being a secret."
"A secret?" Quinn grinned. "I like it."
AN: I like this, and I hope you did too. Reviews make my day, so make my day... pretty please?